Leaders at the 2009 G20 summit in London — a group representing both developed and developing markets and accounting for 85% of the global economy — pledged they “would not repeat the historic mistakes of protectionism of previous eras.” And over a decade earlier in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established to promote free trade and reduce trade barriers between nations. It now has 162 member countries.

Yet it appears that protectionism is by no means dead, according to Abraham as well as Ann Harrison, a Wharton management professor, and Tarun Khanna, a professor at Harvard Business School and a colleague of Abraham’s on the World Economic Forum Council on Emerging Multinationals. They say that protectionism, while certainly not as overt as it was 50 or 60 years ago, still exists in subtle and varied forms.

Many countries have tried to use protectionism to nurture their home industries — but even though it makes sense in theory, countries screw it up about 75% of the time.

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